This invention relates to point-of-sale devices and to point-of-sale transactions. More particularly, this invention relates to an integrated point-of-sale device capable of facilitating transactions associated with one or more transaction systems.
In the sale of goods by a merchant to a customer, point-of-sale devices are used by the merchant to complete a transaction. For example, a common cash register can be used to tally the cost of items purchased, accept cash payments, and return the proper amount of change. In some cases, such a register can be used in conjunction with a credit card reader. More particularly, the merchant can ring up a total amount due on the register, pass the credit card through a card reader to debit the customer account, and in turn the register recognizes the payment by credit card. While devices for completing such transactions exist, the functionality of such devices is quite limited. Furthermore, such devices are typically limited to accessing records maintained by a merchant. Thus, for example, it can be impossible for a merchant to determine if a credit card offered for payment is a stolen card. In some cases, obtaining additional functionality to, for example, determine if a credit card is stolen, can be achieved by installing equipment in addition to the cash register. This additional equipment typically must be individually installed, configured and maintained. Such an approach is costly and inefficient.
Furthermore, such an approach of using stand alone devices requires a merchant to become the interface between each of the devices which requires additional, costly training. Yet further, a number of functions useful to both merchants and customers cannot be facilitated using systems and methods known in the current art.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a point-of-sale payment terminal and methods of using such that overcome the limitations of the current art. Hence, among a number of other advantages apparent from the following description, the present invention provides systems and methods for addressing the aforementioned limitations of the current art.